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We are really happy that you are using Melltoo to sell your stuff, make extra cash and clear that clutter.

We need you to take note of the policies pertaining to images listed on the app – this will help you sell faster, and sell more;

DO:

Take photos of the actual item for sale and not copy/paste images from somewhere else.

You may think that they look the same, but your item may have imperfections or flaws that don’t appear in a photo copied from somewhere else. Buyers are purchasing an item based on the photo listed and have the right to return an item if it does not match the photograph listed in-app

Facebook groups have become a popular way to sell used things such as cars, furniture, second hand electronics, and clothes. In the UAE alone, there are hundreds of groups organized around buying and selling second hand. These groups range from hundreds to tens of thousands of members. Some of the groups are private and require administrative approval to join. Others are public and open for anyone with a Facebook account. Some are organized around location or living communities, so members are people who live within a particular gated community (although it isn’t uncommon for people from outside to join since identity is difficult to verify). Others are organized by interests, such as mums classifieds or Dubai expats.

However, unlike purpose-built apps like Melltoo Marketplace, which provides a Facebook experience specially designed for buying and selling, Facebook groups are not optimized for classifieds. This is especially true since we recently launched our Melltoo Pay&Ship Secure service, where we handle the headache of promoting selling posts, payment and delivery on your behalf. Nonetheless, the following tips should help you if you chose to start selling secondhand on Facebook.

WHEN TO POST?

On Facebook, if you post at a time when people are not online, your post will probably not be seen. Not all posts in a group appear in a member’s news feed. Facebook’s news feed algorithm determines which posts get seen based on a user’s browsing history. So it is likely that your post will reach only a very small proportion of group members (about 6% based on some estimates). However, members who visit the group page will see your post…IF it is there at the time they are looking. Hence, it is important to choose the best time to post your item in order to get maximum views. Here are the best times to post on Facebook for the UAE:

Sunday 10 – 11pm

Monday 12 – 1am // 8pm – 12am

Tuesday 12 – 1am

Wednesday 7 – 8pm

Friday 1 – 4pm // 8pm – 12am

Saturday 12 – 1 am // 2 – 4pm // 10pm – 12am

HOW TO POST

In order to post your item for sale on a Facebook group, you have two options.

Post it on your personal timeline then share the post to groups. This option is probably easier because you post once and then share to the groups individually through the sharing tool. However, you may not want your friends to see what you’re selling something, in which case you should use option 2.

Post on the timeline of each individual group. This is cumbersome particularly if you want to post to multiple groups, which is typically the best way to get your item noticed.

WHAT TO POST?

Pictures sell. Be sure to post a picture of your item if you want anybody to look at it. In the “write post” section, include the name of the item, price, and brief description. Usually, more than one photo per item is a good idea, since it will allow you to show off the item from many different angles.

You may have a group of things to sell, say an entire living room set that consists of sofa, carpet, coffee table and lamp. Take a group picture and then individual pictures of the items and upload them all in one post. Be sure to specify in the text of the post that the items may be bought as a group or individually. Indicate the group price in the post and direct viewers to click on the individual pictures to see the prices for each item if bought separately. After posting, click on the individual photos and add names, prices, and descriptions to each one. Unfortunately, the interface is very clunky and requires you to click around to accomplish this.

WHERE TO POST?

Look for the right Facebook group to post your item to maximize interest and sales. For instance, baby items will get the most interest when posted to Facebook groups targeted to mothers. Cars and apartments are likely to go well in expat groups and generic buy sell groups. There are specialized groups for categories of items like electronics and designer fashion as well. There are some groups that do not allow the posting of certain items for sale and you can get yourself barred from these groups if you do. Be sure to read the group description carefully. The best thing is to spend some time researching groups on Facebook by typing in keywords in the search bar. Again, this is a somewhat time-consuming and unpleasant process, which is why Melltoo, a purpose-built social network for classifieds, exists.

HOW TO REPOST?

Very often, your post doesn’t get seen and is buried shortly after. Unfortunately, there is no way for users to search for specific posts, e.g. “brown sofa”. In this case, you will have to repost your item again to get it back at the top of the group’s news feed. The quick and easy way to do this is to add a comment on your own post and it gets pushed back up to the top of the feed. Many people frequently type “bump” as a comment to do this. Be wary about doing this too often because you might potentially annoy other group members and get yourself blocked from the group.

COMMUNICATING WITH POTENTIAL BUYERS

When a potential buyer is interested in your item, she typically contacts you either by commenting on your post or “inboxing” (PM) you. If she comments on the item, you will get a notification of such. This is useful so you can respond to the buyer quickly. However, this is also public and gets seen by everyone who’s looking. This isn’t ideal when there is a lot of back and forth between you and the buyer when negotiating the price for instance.

The alternative is for the buyer to send you a private message or PM which arrives in your “Other” inbox. Please note that you are NOT notified when messages arrive in your “Other” inbox, you have to manually check it from HomeàMessagesàOther. In addition, the “Other” inbox is not accessible on the Facebook messenger mobile app, so you can only check it by going through a web browser. Unfortunately, this means that you will probably miss many messages from potential buyers if you are not actively checking this space. As a result, many buyers will comment on the item saying: “PMed you” so that you will be notified via the comment to go check your “Other” inbox. Again, the interface for Facebook groups was not designed for buying and selling, unlike Melltoo, which has a built-in chat where buyers and sellers can communicate instantly.

SHARING YOUR POST TO OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKS

Finally, the best way to get your item sold quickly is to share it with as many people as you know, including people on other social networks. Facebook doesn’t really give you an easy way to do this. One way is to obtain a direct link to the post by clicking on the date/time of the post to open it. Once it’s open, you can copy the link from the address bar and use it to share to your other networks such as Twitter and Google+.

Facebook groups have in recent times become a busy place to buy and sell second hand. People prefer it to web-based classifieds because of the user experience and the ability to interact with others socially and on mobile. However, the Facebook groups interface isn’t designed for buying and selling so it can be cumbersome at times. If you are looking for a similar social experience that is especially designed for buying and selling, download the Melltoo app, which is available on iOs and Android.

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The #hashtag is a way to organize information by interests to make information searchable. They are primarily used on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. In fact, the use of the #hashtag was popularized by Twitter.

Create a #hashtag typing #YourInterest, making sure there are no spaces in between words.

For example, I’m interested in social media, so I use #socialmedia hashtag when I post something related. If I search for #socialmedia on twitter, I will find all the tweets on the same topic. If I include #socialmedia in my tweet or in a Facebook post, anybody searching for #socialmedia will see my post/tweet displayed in the search results.

You can search for hashtags that already exist or you can create your own hashtag. Just make it simple, understandable and easy to use. If you do a good job, other people will start using your #hashtag as well.

If you are looking for a specific product on Melltoo search for #YourProductName. A listing of items with the #hashtag will be displayed on the browse screen.

3- Search for a store, a specific group or organization

If you are looking for an m-store or a catalog of items from a specific group or organization, search #YourStoreName, #YourGroupName or #YourOrganizationName. All the listings and ONLY the listings of your store, group or organization will be displayed on the browse screen.

Here’s a tutorial about how to search your M-Boutique using Hashtag on Melltoo

4- Add an Hashtag in your Item’s description

If you want to identify your item as part of specific category or community for keyword search, you can use #Category or #Community

If you are selling your iPhone, you can include #Phone in the title or in your item’s Description.

If you are selling the same iPhone and you want to identify your post as part of the JTL Community, you can use #JTL.

You can also use both, #Phone and #JLT. You can even use additional #hashtags in the same post but too many #hashtags might end up confusing your buyer.

Here’s a tutorial about how to Hashtag your Community on Melltoo
http://youtu.be/5_3JsICQ5Oo

Remember ebay? Yes, that was a while back. When ebay first came on the scene, it was the e-commerce revolution! All the little guys could now sell online. Whether you were online or offline, you now had a platform for an e-store. You finally had an answer to all those customers that asked if you had an online store. And then came the e-commerce platforms that provided turn-key solutions for an online e-store. Just select a template, upload your catalog and you’re ready to go. Well, I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but your e-store is no longer enough, it’s time to go mobile.

Why You Need an m-Store: Selling on Mobile

Worldwide, 30% of ecommerce site traffic came from mobile in 2013. Souq.com, the Amazon, of the MENA region recently revealed that 40% of its sales (and growing) come from mobiles. They predict that mobile will be the main way to shop by 2015. All over the world, all eyes are turning to mobile, with Facebook declaring itself a mobile-first company along with their acquisition of Whatsapp (a mobile-only messaging platform) for a whopping $19B. If you’re still not convinced that mobile is the way to go, then you should stop reading.

There are already many on the cutting edge who have taken to Instagram to set up their m-stores. And you know what? They are doing great. But Instagram is a photo-sharing app, not an m-commerce platform. And I can hear others now proudly boasting about their mobile responsive website. Sorry, but responsive just doesn’t cut it. Consumers prefer native apps, enough said. And an icon on their phone reminds them to go shopping, while a web browser on a phone takes the user everywhere but to your responsive website.

How is the mobile shopping experience different?

You might still be scratching your head and wondering: what makes the mobile shopping experience different? The answer is: the mobile phone. The mobile phone is with you everywhere you go. You pull it out of your pocket or purse at every dull moment in your day. You push the home button and you’re instantly connected. You can’t do this with a laptop. With the mobile, you can shop on demand; you can shop for the bag you just saw on a billboard as you whizzed by on the metro. You can do price research for the vacuum cleaner for which you are standing in line to pay for. The mobile is a tool for instant communication, it is always on and always with you. Imagine chatting with a salesperson as you browse his store catalog while sitting at the doctor’s waiting room. The mobile is a tool for social interaction, you take pictures and videos, share them with friends, comment on things your friends share with you on a plethora of different social networks right on one device. In the shopping context, you can ask your friends for recommendations and advice on purchases as you shop. Shopping on the mobile is an engaging experience that cannot be replicated on the web.

What should you look for in a m-store platform?

So at this point, you see the need to start selling on mobile. Assuming you are not amazon.com, you probably don’t have the resources or time to devote to building your very own m-commerce app. Instead, you want a turnkey solution that will allow you to get started instantly. In order to leverage the mobile shopping experience to grow sales, here are some things you should look for in an m-store platform.

It’s a native app – Native apps use phone hardware like the camera, location services, and integration with other apps in ways that a “responsive website” doesn’t.

The app looks good and is easy/stupid to use – UI/UX is very important when your screen is only 4-5 inches long. If the app is not dead simple to use, say hello to the uninstall button.

The platform is social – By this, I do not mean that it has a share to Facebook button. Share button does not social make. When I say social, I mean that a community can be formed within the app because the app has “public spaces” for users to engage in. Often, this means an activity feed, comments, likes/shares, and follows. Think Twitter or Instagram.

It has a built-in chat platform – Nothing is more powerful than mobile chat, it is a medium of communication that has taken the world by storm. Don’t take my word for it, just think Whatsapp at $19B.

Download the Melltoo app and checkout how we have integrated all of these things to make m-commerce easier than ever in the UAE!